Sorry, But 60 Is Not the New 40

MARC FREEDMAN: That 60 is the new 40—at the same time it’s the old 80. On the one hand we’re encouraged to cling to our fast-fading youth, to look and be younger than we actually are. There was even a study a few years ago to determine once and for all whether 60 was the new 50, 40, or 30. On the other hand, we’re eligible for senior citizen discounts not at 60, but at 50, putting us prematurely and simultaneously into a codgerly category. No wonder the latter part of midlife has become such confusing territory—this phase might be renamed the oxymoronic years, with labels like the young-old and the working-retired bandied about by social scientists and other experts.

The truth behind all these contradictions is that 60 is the new 60—and the population flooding into this period, nearing 10,000 a day, constitutes something entirely new on the landscape. They are the first denizens of an entirely new stage of life, one yet to acquire standing or even a coherent name. In many ways these individuals neither young nor old are reminiscent of the neither-nors of a century ago—the first adolescents—the new category and stage of life that emerged from the realization that a growing group of young people were neither children nor adults. (It’s worth noting that adolescence was “invented” by a 60-year-old, psychologist G. Stanley Hall, in 1904.)

Hall went on to argue that the period between midlife and old age comprised its own unique stage of life, one he poetically called an “Indian summer,” adding: “We rarely come to anything like a masterly grip till the shadows begin to slant eastward, and for a season, which varies greatly with individuals, our powers increase as the shadows lengthen.” What Hall captured is the unique intersection of experience, capacity, and motivation that so many at this life juncture today possess—it’s no wonder hordes are turning towards work with purpose.

Putting this vision of true maturity into practice, and dispelling the long-told lie of later life as a kind of second adolescence, holds the key to realizing the immense promise inherent in the longevity revolution. Rather than striving to be younger than we actually are, we’d do well to embrace a kind of generative purpose, investing what we’ve learned from life in those who truly are young, and on whose well-being the future rests.

It’s a future we won’t even see—but one that we are connected to and responsible for nonetheless. In the words of Erik Erikson, the hallmark of healthy development in this time of life can be encapsulated in the phrase, “I am what survives of me.” Amen!

Marc Freedman is CEO and founder of Encore.org, a nonprofit organization working to promote encore careers—second acts for the greater good.